The Victor and the Spoils
by lady of scarlet darkness
Summary: After defeating the Labyrinth, Sarah gains alot more than she thought. After 6 yrs Jareth is back. Whatever could he want? J/S
1. Prolouge

So… yeah this is my _first _**EVER ** fanfiction. Please be kind, but please don't lie if you think that it sucks. I'm a big girl I can handle anything that you throw at me, but I don't believe in being vicious towards struggling writers who only want to improve their writing and I don't think that others should either.

-Lady of Scarlet Darkness

Disclaimer: I own nothing but myself. So this means that I did not create the Labyrinth or anything seen/mentioned in the Labyrinth. So please do not sue. You would simply waste your time and pay more to your lawyer than you would get out of me.

" – Means dialogue

' - Means thoughts

****

**PROLOGUE:**

****

_"I don't know why but every now and again for no reason at all I need you…all of you"_

"Well! Why didn't you say so!!??", Hoggle cried as suddenly the room was filled with every being that she had met on her journey through the Labyrinth. (And even a few that she didn't meet. Some for the party and some just to see the mortal girl who had bested Jareth)

Sarah sprang forth from her vanity table with a cry of joy and flung herself into the embrace of her friends, who were dancing and talking in joyous abandon. Sarah knew that later her room would be trashed beyond belief and that her overbearing parents would demand an explanation to all the racket during the night, but for now Sarah didn't care. She was with her friends from the Labyrinth, all of them. As she thought this though, doubt crept into her mind. It seemed that the aristocratic sneer of a certain Goblin King was nowhere to be seen.

" Of course he isn't here! Why would he want to come to a party in honor of the one who had defeated him and his un-beatable labyrinth!" Sarah thought sensibly, ignoring the pang of sadness that this realization brought. 

Even this did not stop the hope that he came as she vainly searched the growing crowd, ignoring all others in her elusive search. Suddenly she had a vague sense of déjà vu and certain memories of another search began to seep into her consciousness; Sarah stopped dead in her tracks. The Peach….. the Dream……the _Dance._

"Oh dear," Sarah thought bringing her fingers to her lips to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape. In her quest to save her brother her mind conviently forgot that………incident. 

Suddenly the memories sprang forth in a tempestus torrent filling her mind with nothing save the ball…the emotions…and Jareth. Sarah blindly searched for a chair in which to sit and contemplate her confusing emotions and thoughts. She sank down gratefully into her window seat. Outside the night wind stirred the leaves in the trees, awakening them from their placid slumber. Suddenly she saw a flash of white in trees from the corner of her eye, Sarah turned fully so that she was looking completely out the window. Sitting in the branches straight across from her window was a large barn owl. This time the gasp did escape the confines of her mouth, for the owl stared unblinkingly at her with Jareth's mismatched eyes. As Sarah lost herself in the endless depths of those piercing eyes Sarah saw something. Something that made her heart race and her breath quicken……..a promise.

With a flurry of wings the owl ascended into the star cloaked darkness of the night.

She thought idly why she had searched for him among her friends. She wondered vaguely if she considered him a friend (if not more but it was still to early to even begin to dwell on that). She decided that yes, she did. This sudden admission to herself completely unnerved her.

'He was a monster! He kidnapped Toby! How can I count him as friend?' Sarah thought wildly.

'You asked him to take Toby', a voice said in her mind, which could only be her conscience (or at least she hoped because if not then that would make her both crazy and skitzo!)

'But I didn't mean it' Sarah mentally shot back to the disembodied voice in her mind.

'You said the words and you know that he had to take him', the voice replied back in a voice serenely confident in it's reasoning.

'I didn't know that he was real!' Sarah cried back (mentally of course) grasping at straws

'True but you were hoping that he was so that doesn't matter' the voice said back in the same confident voice that was beginning to grate on Sarah's nerves.

'Damn! Point to spooky disembodied voice…..well he was still unfair and made it next to impossible to get Toby back!'

'And what he was supposed to make it easy? Come now Sarah be sensible!' the voice replied with a light chuckle.

'Well……what about the peach? Hmmmmm?'

The voice said nothing.

'What? Nothing to say to that?' Sarah began to taunt thrilled at finally stumping her subconscious , but decided on dropping _that _subject before she began to dwell on it again and would be forced to confront both her thoughts and emotions.

'Only _I would be fighting with a disembodied voice over the actions of the Goblin King while a party in MY honor was in full swing! I am such a loser!'_

Laughter came from her supposed conscience as she thought the last part of her thought.

                Although the party lasted for several more hours and was considered to be a huge success by all who attended, it held no joy for Sarah. Her mind was somewhere else, somewhere in the darkness along with an owl on its long flight home.

                None of her friends seemed to notice her lack of enthusiasm, or if they did they simply wrote it off as exhaustion. After all she had spent the past 13 hours running the Labyrinth, and once the adrenaline wore off she would be sure to sleep like a baby. So they left her with goodbyes and promises to visit (along with a trashed room). Of course they were right, Sarah DID sleep like a baby. Too bad it was like a newborn, for she awoke several times during the night and more often than not crying. She could never fully understand or explain those tears, but a part of her felt empty as if she had lost something precious.

~~~

Author's Notes:

                Yes that's it. I know not a literary masterpiece, but hey it's mine. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read it to the very end. So, I would love to hear from you! Did you love it? Hate it? Want to print it out then burn it in a ritualistic sacrifice? Tell me and I will be happy at any comments!

Peaches to EVERYONE (even the lurkers who didn't review, cause hey I've done it too!)


	2. Six Years Later

So… yeah this is my _first **EVER  fanfiction. Please be kind, but please don't lie if you think that it sucks. I'm a big girl I can handle anything that you throw at me, but I don't believe in being vicious towards struggling writers who only want to improve their writing and I don't think that others should either.**_

-Lady of Scarlet Darkness

Disclaimer: I own nothing but myself. So this means that I did not create the Labyrinth or anything seen/mentioned in the Labyrinth. So please do not sue. You would simply waste your time and pay more to your lawyer than you would get out of me.

Onward through the fog...

Chapter One:

Six Years Later

"Good morning, New York!! It's now 6:00 and the start of a beautiful autumn morning! The air is getting cold and winters on its way but for now the sun is shining and the music is playing. So just…"

      That was all the radio got out before a slender and dainty hand slammed down on it with a strength that belied its delicate structure.

"Ugh" was all that the figure on the bed (owner of the aforementioned hand) got out before tossing the sheets over her head in order to douse the morning sunlight streaming through her window. _It_ was threatening to wake her from her delicious slumber, and for the moment sleep was preferred over consciousness 

      Fifteen minutes later the radio again exploded on, this time playing Metallica at full volume.

      Sarah bolted straight up at the shock of heavy metal being blasted in her ears at 6:15 in the morning. Heavy metal was the only thing that seemed to be able to get her out of bed at this ungodly hour. Sarah was by no means a morning person and so she suffered through it though she preferred the musical quality of classical. 

      "Damn," she said turning off the radio with a tad more finesse than last time and forcing herself to get out of bed and into the shower.

      "Too…early…in the…(yawn)…morning", Sarah complained to herself with yet another yawn, as she stripped out of her oh so sexy flannel pajamas and stepped into her tiny shower.

      As always with her faulty plumbing the first spray of water was icy cold. And although every morning she cussed and complained about it, deep down she knew that she would never get it fixed because it was the only thing that truly awoke her in the morning. Soon though, the water began to warm and Sarah relaxed into the jet of the water. 

      'Another wonderful day at the office to look forward to! Whoopee!' Sarah thought to herself, her mental voice laced with cynicism and sarcasm. She idly wondered what would be on today's agenda. 

'Today is Monday so that means that he probably needs me to go drop off his dry cleaning,' Sarah thought with disgust. Four long and tortuous years of college she suffered through, busting her butt to get good grades, and what did she get for it? Not a damn thing. Currently she was working for Jackson and Pollock (more commonly known in the office as Jerk-off and Slime ball).  Her official job title was "organizational executive" (a fancy way of saying secretary), although personally she thought it more along the lines of "personal slave". Luckily for her she was only secretary to Pollock, he was only flaky and smarmy; Jackson on the other hand was a whole different matter. The past 3 secretaries to him quit due to his blatant sexual harassment. The secretaries had banded together and had tried to sue him, but Jackson was filthy rich and got the best lawyer money could buy. Needless to say Jackson won the case and was still free to sexually harass every woman that came his way, both in the office and on the street. Fortunately for Sarah she was hardly ever in the office, instead most of the time she was out doing the errands that Pollock should have done himself.

After only 10 minutes Sarah came out from the steam filled bathroom and out into the icy chill of her small bedroom. The frigid shock of it seeped into her veins and removed all the warm goodness that the shower had provided. She ran hurriedly to the closet and pulled out the warmest outfit that she could find. She chose a red ribbed turtleneck and black dress pants; it was warm enough for the chilly autumn air while professional enough for the office.

'Although I wonder why I even try to look professional at all, my job is nothing more than that of a glorified soccer mom with lower pay.'

She walked the hallway that led from her bedroom to her compact kitchen. The walkway was covered with pictures of family and friends, memories of a time before she left her tiny New England town for the big city life of New York. She came to New York for college; she came with dreams of stardom, of best selling books, and of love. So far all those dreams were finis or at the very least had been put on the back burner. College disillusioned her; the acting that seem so extraordinary to her small town friends was nothing short of mediocre to New York. So her dreams had shifted from award winning actress to best selling authoress. So far though every piece she had written had been rejected, but she was far too stubborn to give up on writing. Acting had always been more of her mothers dream rather than her own, but writing, that was something that was truly hers. She would be damned before giving that up. Her main focus for now though, was simply survival. Sure, she still wrote everyday. She wrote after the long and tiring hours of her meaningless job and well into the secretive hours of the night. And love…well love was a lost dream to her now.

'Some people are loved,' she thought to herself, ' and some people simply are not. I've accepted the fact that I will not, and I refuse to be bitter because of it.'

Her practical mind firmly agreed. You accepted the fact and you moved on…. end of story. Her romantic heart though, long forgotten and long buried under practicality and cynicism, sighed with regret. It refused to give up its small hope of true love…one day; but for now it was Monday and dry cleaning day to boot. Sarah poured herself a large cup of coffee and popped two pieces of toast into the toaster, before seating herself on her rickety kitchen table to read the newspaper. As she ate her toast with pineapple jelly she enjoyed the musical solitude of the sunrise through her small kitchen window.

~~~

The publishing company where she worked was in a medium sized drab grey building squashed between a deli (Roy's Deli- Home of the Best Turkey on Rye Around!) and a small antique store. The deli really did have the best turkey on rye around, although mostly everything else on the menu was inedible, and Sylvia's Antique Treasures was full of old useless junk. Sarah loved it. She spent almost every lunch hour savoring her turkey on rye while browsing through the disordered masses of junk that littered the store. Sometimes she would find something really spectacular and she would come back day after day pining for it, always hoping that it would still remain. Finally when she had saved up enough she would walk in proudly and buy that special something with her hard won money and she would cherish it all the more for the price that it had cost her. Sometimes it would cost her a new winter coat or sometimes it would cost her two weeks worth of rationing of food, but to her these special items were worth far more than materialistic comforts.

The once shining and bright morning turned dark and dismal by the time Sarah was able to take her lunch hour. Besides being dry cleaning day, it was also Pollock's wife's birthday, meaning Sarah had to spend the entire morning looking for "the perfect gift for a woman who is 46 but wants to feel like she's 26" (Pollock's exact words). How did he truly expect her to know what his wife wanted for her birthday?

     'Hell I don't even know what I want for my birthday and it's only a week away!' Sarah reflected. 

After spending almost 3 hours shopping, she finally found a lovely white gold pendant necklace with a tasteless rock sized diamond in the center that she knew Mrs. Pollock would absolutely adore. The price was only twice her yearly salary.

'Must be nice', she thought to herself with a sigh, although not a sigh of envy for the necklace. She found the necklace slightly gaudy. No, she only thought how nice it would be to be able to buy something without worrying about how you were to survive until the next payday.

The already drab building of Jackson and Pollock's Publishing House seemed to fade into the dismal dreariness of the late afternoon, Sarah noted as she came out of Roy's Deli with her turkey on rye. After such an aggravating and pointless morning as hers was she deserved to spend her lunch hour idly browsing through Sylvia's, who she hadn't visited in nearly two weeks due to the encumbering workload thrust upon her by Pollock.

'I wonder what new things have come in', she thought as the door chimed as she came into the cramped store. The store smelt aged and musty, much like its owner Sylvia. Sylvia was a woman that Sarah supposed must be over 90 years old with hair as white as snow and as wispy as cotton candy.  To Sarah Sylvia was the epitome of grandmother, right down to the old lady smell that she permeated. 

'Hell, she even had a bun. All grandmothers should have a bun', Sarah thought wirily.

"Hello, Sarah! Why I haven't seen you in ages, thought that you must have gotten a new stud and forgotten about your _old _friends!" Sylvia teasingly suggested to Sarah as she spotted the younger girl sorting through the latest shipment of junk.

"Oh Sylvia how could you think that! You know that I have no time for a stud! And besides however could I forget about you?" Sarah said gaily as she stooped down to give the older woman a hug.

"Yes, I know, I am unforgettable. It runs in the family you know," Sylvia said in a secretive stage   whisper.

Sarah chuckled and continued to browse; she knew that sooner or later Sylvia would remember something that was absolutely made for her. Sure enough before Sarah had been in the store for ten minutes the silence was shattered as Sylvia gasped in excitement.

"Oh Sarah dear I just remembered! As I was browsing through my last shipment I found something that I just know that you will love! I saw it and I just thought well if this isn't Sarah I don't know what is!" Sylvia babbled on as she dug through the closest box of junk.

She dug through several boxes before she firmly declared that 'this is the one I know it!'.  The top part of the box held several children's toys that Sylvia threw behind her without much thought. After she got past all the toys she came upon what seemed to be hundreds of books. She dug haphazardly through the books until a triumphant, "Ah Ha!".

She pulled out a small red leather bound book. The temperature of the small store seemed to drop several degrees. Sarah felt her breath quicken and her body shiver from the cold sweat that shimmered on her body.

"No…it can't be"

Sylvia didn't seem to notice anything wrong so she gave the small harmless looking book into the shaking hands of Sarah.

In gold lettering and a flowing hand read: _The Labyrinth._

The world began to spin and then blacken as Sarah fell in a dead faint.

**Author's Note:**

Well that's Chapter One for you! I know that it wasn't very exciting but it was more of a background chapter, I mean hey it's been six years since you last saw Sarah! Well I have many special thanks to give:

To all my friends that I let read this and who gave me their hopefully honest critique.

To Arlena who was my **first reviewer** of all time!! Thank you so much for letting my first review be a good one!

To: Prettylittleowl, Mystdawn, Sorceress Myst, Scattered Logic (I absolutely LOVE your stories!), Heikgan, Lee (yes I swear that this is my first story or at least the first that I finished the first chappie), Draegon-fire, Terrie, JW (thank you for your compliment!), Darkmaster, Tifanimus, and Dawn, whose kind and encouraging reviews gave me the confidence to continue with the story.

And special thanks goes to Phoenix Flight for not being afraid to give me constructive criticism! I took your advice and actually printed out the story in order to correct it easier, hopefully I did better in the error department on this last Chapter!

Thank you all so much!! 

May all your days be Peachy!!!

-***Lady of Scarlet Darkness***


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